A generator will blow heavy white smoke when there is oil being introduced into the combustion chamber that ignites with the air and gas. Causes include: the crankcase is overfilled with engine oil, if it has piston rings that aren’t sealing (or a cylinder that is scored), or it has a blown head gasket.

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1. By far, the most common reason your generator will be sending out a cumulus cloud of white exhaust will be because there is too much oil in the crankcase. This is especially a problem if you bought your generator used from someone who wasn’t very mechanically inclined.

Luckily, though, this is a very easy problem to fix. All you need to do is open up the oil drain plug at the bottom of the crankcase and lower the level until the desired level is reached. If you bought your generator used, I recommend doing a full oil change and make sure you use the recommended oil weight for your particular generator and seasonal temperature range.

2. If the cause of your white smoke is piston rings that are damaged, then you are in for a bit of work if you plan on fixing things yourself.

If the problem is due to the cylinder wall of the combustion chamber being scored by carbon debris or simply worn wider through the use of the generator over the years, then you are probably going to be looking for a new generator. You can replace these things, but it is not worth it when you consider the price of replacement parts vs. the cost of a new unit.

3. Engines where the head gasket has a divider that separates the combustion chamber and the pushrods are susceptible to having the head gasket blow out internally between the two and not externally to where it would be blowing the compression outside the engine.

When the divider between the combustion chamber and the pushrods is damaged, each time the piston cycles up to compress and back down into the crankcase, it will create positive and negative pressures internally.

As it compresses and combusts it will blow some of that compression and exhaust through the damaged gasket and into the pushrod cavity where it will make its way to the crankcase. This is why you’ll see your oil appear to be steaming if you were to pull out the dipstick. It’s the hot exhaust trapped in your crankcase.

This increase in pressure from the exhaust and compressed gasses being forced into the crankcase will also cause the engine to vent out the pressure and oil will typically be forced out the external fuel pump (if you have one), or up through the breather tube and into your air filter. If you see oil leaking from your air filter, there’s a great chance your head gasket is blown.

Now, let’s mention when the piston goes back into the crankcase after its pushed down from the combustion, it will create a vacuum effect in the combustion chamber. Since the gasket is blown between the combustion chamber and the pushrod housing, it will naturally suck in oil from the crankcase that lubricates the pushrods.

This oil will then be combusted with the incoming fuel and air mixture and white exhaust will flow out of your generator’s exhaust.

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